by Dr. Michel Fortin, Ph.D.

In today's hyper-competitive marketplace, the most effective marketing tool available is "top-of-mind awareness." Rather than institutional marketing (the kind that says "I'm open for business"), the object of this approach is to create a psychological "anchor" in the minds of prospects so that the name or location (URL) of a particular firm comes to their minds instantaneously. However, once top-of-mind awareness has been created, how does one get people to act and buy what one has to offer?

First, let's take a look at a big mistake businesspeople often make when they market themselves. Many try to sell their product or service directly in every communication they produce. And, as a result, they generate huge amounts of traffic that produce little or no business. They think that by selling themselves right in the ad they will get not only an immediate response but also immediate business. This oftentimes backfires and can even take away customers.

Many clients I've dealt with usually get as a result of this type of approach a lot of hits but no clients--or at least no long term clients. They end up dealing with a lot of people who are merely curious but never serious. Because of hyper- competition and the fact that we are constantly bombarded with information, trying to find qualified prospects and get them to buy can sometimes be worse than a needle in the haystack. It's frustrating and often self-effacing.

A new concept (although it's been around for years but has recently become very popular) is "Multi-Step Marketing." It's a process in which businesses seek an immediate response as a result of their marketing efforts but use this technique to offer a free report, item, or service. Little do people know, however, that the immediate response strategy is usually not the true goal of the advertiser. People who request the freebie are not general, curious, uninterested, and unqualified prospects. They are indirectly being screened since, once they "show up," they are pre-qualified and, after they've been enticed with some free information, product, or service, they are pre-sold and ready to do business.

As a consultant to cosmetic surgeons, this process is obviously essential if not vital. For instance, no one can call a person on the phone and outright ask if that person is bald and wants more hair, especially without knowing if that person is bald in the first place! However, doctors will advertise a free information kit offer whereby people who respond will naturally fit into a specific demographic. The doctor then sends a brochure explaining the procedure, the possible risks, and the potential results, but without any pricing (it is impossible to determine the cost until the doctor personally sees the patient). The information package, therefore, along with its lack of pricing, causes some prospects to come forward once more to arrange for a personal consultation with the doctor. Those who show up are, by and large, practically ready to have surgery.

You see, people who may need your products or services may fit your demographics. But people who come forward and want what you offer fit your psychographics. As in the previous example, the demographics for a hair transplant surgeon encompass those who have hair loss. But psychographics, though, are comprised of people who have hair loss and want to do something about it (since not all of them do). This is the power of "funneling" fuel into your marketing machine.

In your case, if you offer a specific product or service that caters to a specific target market, find out ways to make your market come forward with minimal effort on your part. The best way to do this is to offer a freebie of some kind. It's like the "try-before-you-buy" approach (as in shareware). Being in the information age, I prefer the "free report" type of giveaway. Your report doesn't have to be product or service-specific, industry-specific, or benefit-specific. As long as it targets an audience that fits within your demographics (and eventually your psychographics), you're ahead of the game. Let's say you're in financial planning. Your product involves services such as investments, mutual funds, stocks, retirement savings plans, mortgages, and venture loans. Rather than place an ad that directly markets your services or Web site, you could advertise using a small banner ad promoting a free course, seminar, or report on helping people save money. Let's say you're a beautician. You could offer a free kit that may include a free makeover, a free makeup sample kit, a gift certificate, a free initial consultation, or a free report on makeup styles and colors that will match one's unique complexion.

Nevertheless, the idea is to have people come to you rather than you to them, and the incentive you offer doesn't have to relate directly to what you do or sell. In general, the portion of the general public that fits into your product or service's demographics is merely made up of "suspects" (you suspect that they might need what you have to offer). When a portion of them comes forward to get your free report, sample, or service, you've isolated the true "prospects" from your suspects. Then, if they want more information or want more of what you've got, they're now "expects" (people expecting to do business with you).

I used to work as a salesperson for a music store specializing in pianos and keyboards. Older pianos usually require considerable repair since the wood inside holding the strings with which the piano creates its sound may be too old and broken beyond repair. A salesperson at the store had a small classified ad that said: "Beware parents in the market for a piano! (That's the headline.) Many parents usually buy used pianos for their kids because they don't know if they'll love music and therefore want to minimize the risk of losing their investment. However, to the unsuspecting buyer, many used pianos are internally broken beyond repair and temporarily 'doped' in order to sound good and be sold quickly, only to become broken again when it's too late. Before you buy any piano at any price, call for our free report, 'Don't Let Piano Problems Put Your Bank Account Out of Tune: 6 Ways to Find Commonly Hidden Problems with Used Pianos'."

His report not only explained the possible hidden faults commonly found in pianos. But since he was catering to a target market (parents of piano students), his report went on to explain how used pianos fall out of tune quickly causing the child to learn the piano the wrong way and eventually to lose interest--let alone the parents' money! Of course, what the salesperson really wanted was to get these parents to buy new or professionally refurbished pianos from his store and especially from him. The resulting effect, though, was that the report not only brought prospects to his door but also instilled in them a greater confidence in the salesperson in addition to the reasons for buying a certified piano rather than a used one. He made a fortune using this technique!

In essence, look at your free report as a résumé. People often send bulky résumés to potential employers in an attempt to sell themselves as much as possible, when very often their attempts get filed away--into file #13, that is! Successful career consultants stress the importance of summarizing a résumé as much as possible, include one's past accomplishments and bottom-line results (not one's previous duties and responsibilities), and putting it all on one single page. Why? Because, simply put, the résumé is not meant to land a 'job' but to land an 'interview'.

Lead generation should be regarded in the same way. Your free offer must be small, contain a concise message, stress an immediate benefit, and cause the prospect to come forward. What can you offer your prospects to arouse their curiosity and interest? What can you give away for free so to entice them to get more? If you're giving something away, you'll realize that what you're really doing is not giving away free stuff but generating better leads. Nevertheless, realize that the cost of offering freebies is far less than the cost of mass marketing (and much more effective too)!

SPECIALIZED ADVERTISING

Now that we've talked about lead generation advertising, the trick to having as many pre-qualified prospects come forward is to have your ad noticed and read by such a specific group of people as much, as often, and as effectively as possible. General publications won't do that and they certainly cost a lot of money. The same goes for Web sites. Many people have their banners or links available on large, high-traffic, general Web sites or e-zines. In the end, the cost-per-lead (and cost- per-sale) can add up significantly.

Specialized publications (e-zines) or Web sites, on the other hand, have the distinction of appealing to a specific audience and thus increase the chances of it being noticed as well as read. For example, if one site has 100,000 hits per week but only 25,000 of this number fits into your demographics, where another has only 40,000 but all of which fits into your demographics, which one do you think will give you the greatest response? In other words, rather than fishing for small fish in the middle of the ocean, you'll be a catching big fish in a small pond.

Think of the specialized publication or Web site as a sonar that will help you to find the kind of fish you really want. This is not only due to the fact that the readership will match your demographics, but also due to the fact that people who buy specialized publications (or access specialized Web sites) have a tendency to read them from cover to cover. For instance, unlike a mass-published newsletter that will be "sifted" through (i.e., it is bought by many but read in its entirety by few), a specialized publication will be read more intensely and thoroughly than the general one (i.e., it is bought by few but read in its entirety by many).

If you advertise a free offer to a specific target market, your per capita hit-ratio will dramatically increase than if you would have advertised your product or service directly in a major publication that's too general or too vague. Your little ad can easily get "lost" in a sea of ads. These days, specialized publications exist by the truckloads! Occupation-specific, special interest, or industry-specific publications can include newsletters, e-zines, web sites, trade publications, newsgroups, journals, reports, corporate e-mail, magazines, specialty newspapers, catalogues, and communiqués from specific organizations and associations.

Publications for uncommon or highly specialized topics are out there in some form or another. For instance, if you go to a library or search engine, you will find that there are magazines for specific home-based businesses, newsletters exclusively written for corporate executives, e-zines purely about cigars, newspapers strictly published for firemen, and even magazines geared for--of all things--gerbil breeders! As long as the readership logically fits into your target market and, if possible, into your psychographic criteria, this is where you will get the greatest bang for your marketing buck.

For example, an advertising agent specializing in computer-based firms can advertise an offer for a free report in computer magazines or, better yet, in e-zines in which firms that cater to a same target market often advertise. A medical consultant should advertise a free consultation in medical journals, medical association newsletters, and medical equipment manufacturer Web sites. You get the drift.

By the way, having your own newsletter is also a powerful way to attract prospects. Your newsletter may be offered for free or at a nominal cost, but the idea is to have the people who read it want more and come forward to get it. As well, you can sell advertising space in your newsletter to firms also catering to your unique clientele. Newsletters help form strategic alliances since you can buy ads in or even "swap" ads with newsletters written by other firms that cater to your target market (as in, for example, banner swapping).

Your newsletter can be strictly information-oriented and your banner ads (along with your homepage) can be designed to advertise your newsletter offer. However, don't make your free report or newsletter available directly in your homepage. Many people who choose to use the multi-step marketing process I described earlier (which I strongly encourage) want the names and e-mail addresses of those people coming forward. In this case, they have a special section of their site to which only people who have a password can access, or a list program or robot (auto-responder) to mass e-mail their information to eager subscribers.

Remember, you're not trying to advertise with the hope of stumbling onto a trickle of suspects. You want an endless stream of pre-qualified, pre-screened, and pre-sold expects! People who request your report or newsletter will hopefully want more. But even when only a small portion do, you know that they are much more qualified, which saves you a lot of time and effort than trying to fish in a dried up desert of possible suspects.

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